CO537-2188 — Page 478

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HONG KONG

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CONSTITUTION CHANGES

Draft of Proposed Statement in the House of Commons

On the 1st May my predecessor announced in this

House that His Majesty's Government had had under

consideration the means by which in Hong Kong, as elsewhere

in the Colonial Empire, the inhabitants of the territory

could be given a fuller and more responsible share in the

management of their own affairs. He went on to say that it

was thought that one possible method of achieving this end

would be by handing over certain functions of internal

administration to a Municipal Council constituted on a

fully representative basis but that the Governor had been

asked thoroughly to examine these important issues in

consultation with the representatives of all sections of

the community in Hong Kong.

Since that time the Governor and his Advisers he

have have been continuously engaged in these consultations and

after considering other alternatives he has now come to the

conclusion, with which I agree, that

(a) a Municipal Council should be set up in Hong Kong

on the widest representative basis possible. The majority

of the members will be elected, and the Council will

gradually assume as many of the present functions of the

Central Government as can appropriately be assigned to it.

The Municipality will include Kowloon

(b) that the constitution of the Legislative Council

should be modified with the object of securing on that

body a more direct and a proportionately increased

representation of the unofficial community. Under his

recommendation, which I have accepted, the official

members will be reduced to seven, and of the eight

unofficial members two will be directly nominated by

the Municipal Council, and one cach by the Hong Kong

General